This invention relates to production of flour from tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke. Flour derived from Jerusalem artichoke tubers is a nutritionally valuable food since the flour can contain as few as seventy percent or less calories than are found in an equivalent of weight of wheat flour, is high in fiber content and contains significant amounts of minerals, niacin, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid. Prior attempts at producing such flour have encountered difficulties in the grinding step and have produced an unduly darkened flour which has had high levels of the characteristic Jerusalem artichoke flavor.
For example, Mr. Tom Lukens at page 9 of "The Artichoke Connection", Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter, 1984 states: "They found (as did everybody I talked to on flour), and this is something to think about, that if you're going to make flour, you better make sure that you have the stuff bone dry before you run it through the mill because it caramelizes and the hardest rocks of sugary sticky stuff that you can't beat up into a powder unless it is really dry. Of course the cost of drying that last 10%-15% moisture are pretty great. So you can't skimp on drying. If you don't have the percentage moisture down there, you're not going to be able to grind the stuff for flour very well." Surprisingly, the present method permits ready grinding of particles of Jerusalem artichoke tuber which contain much higher amounts of water and permits production of a flour which, after grinding, can still contain 13% moisture without producing any caramelized lumps in the process. Moreover the process requires no browning inhibitor such as sulfur dioxide or ascorbic acid to produce a light colored flour. The sensory quality of the flour is excellent; it has an appearance comparable to whole wheat flour, is free-flowing, has little or none of the characteristic Jerusalem artichoke aroma and essentially no detectable Jerusalem artichoke taste after baking.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a process whereby a flour can be produced from Jerusalem artichoke tubers without the necessity for excessive drying and which avoids problems, heretofore encountered in grinding.
It is further object of this invention to produce a low calorie product which has a high content of dietary fiber.